First off I'm not slamming anyone from the south or that hunts and fishes. I'm from the south and I hunt and fish. That said....
I was at work and one of my friends there told me I was eccentric for building models. That got me laughing. Let me get this straight, I asked, I'm eccentric for wanting to create something and you go out in the woods and kill things so you can stuff them and hang them on the wall. And I'm eccentric???
Well if building models makes me eccentric. #:-) Don't know why anyone would call me eccentric A little off maybe, but not eccentric

Jerry

I wouldn't quite say that ppl describe model building here as eccentric... more like "never grown up", or "geek"...

But hey... some ppl dry meat or waste 5 days watching a cricket test that results in a draw anyway... I build, which I a much more enjoyable way to "waste" away at a day...

hehe Rudi couldn't agree with you more! :-) Now we better go hide before someone kills us

Listen I'd take "eccentric" any day over the comments I get from my teen-aged daughters. Their comments ranges from "geek", "loser", "weirdo" "oh DADDY", and the worst of all, the slow shake of their heads while rolling their eyes.

I should say that one daughter is absolutely obsessed with Elvis Presley, and the other writes poems about death, suicide, etc. So I'm a loser because I want to build things, and they care about dead people?

I look at being eccentric as a complement. I had two professors once who I thought were the coolest guys I'd ever know.. They too were considered "eccentric". So if building models makes me eccentric, along with all of you and my old professors, then I consider myself in pretty good company.

Therefore I am...



Rodger, I know how you feel. My boys tell me it's lame.
My hobby and I, can't compete with Playstation and Game Cube.

Steve

Folks

Nobody has mentioned the other four letter word yet......."toys".

My long suffering wife talks about my "toys", and she is one of the reasons I gave up modelling when I was 16. After marriage studying and all the other stuff that seems to have stopped many of us from modelling I started again about 9 years ago (to celebrate getting my degree) with her blessing.

I am sure she didn't think I would keep going and have the investment that I have today - and I'm not going to go into how much I have spent on what lies in the cupboard :-)

When I picked up the Trumpeter 1/16 T-34/76 for $60 AUS at our annual competition recently she just rolled her eyes and asked what she was getting for Mother's Day.

Still I am sure that my staff consider me "odd" and eccentric anyway - the fact that I make models just confirms their opinion.

But what else am I to do that will keep me off the streets at night?

Brian

Hey guys!

I almost know for certain you all have heard one of these question when showing some of your models to "outside the hobby" people:
"Do you like war that much?"
"Didn't know you are so...?!"
" Why aren't you in the military"
" It's war worship"
"Are you waiting for WW3?"

Duh! Specially when knowing most of these sit at the TV every night watching policeseries or like war movies. (Not to say: As do I !)
But to them it's something completly different and it's OK to watch and enjoy the killing on TV (or a computergame) but not OK to model military vehicles!

Just don't you think???

Another (unbelievable) thing; in my country (The Netherlands) it is for many regular toyshops not-done to sell kits of tanks and other military vehicles for the viciously character of it.
However, kits of planes are OK, even if it's a (WW2) carpet bomber. And nothing said about the Action Man figures or all those PC games they also sell...


And another rare but thruly happening thing: There are some shopkeepers so frustrated they use a marker to blacken the swastika's and other german symbols on the boxarts (for instance Monogram German airplane kits) and... unbelievable but thrue; the cut out (very roughly) the swastika's and other symbols out of the decal sheets. Even the naked woman on American planes...
When you come back complaining, they look if you are some kind of criminal...
So be wise: if you see a kit with blackened boxart; ask for opening the box before buying (actualy that's allways the best)

Very eccentric greetings from a sunny Netherlands!

Paul

I can't remember if this is right but I think there is a quote that states "The only difference between genius and insanity is the number of successes." I figure, insanity is just a greater extreme of being eccentric and a success boils down to what a person perceives as success. While a success to a modeler may be completing a full super detail of a kit, a fisher may see it as a waste of time building stuff that will barely be seen when the model is complete. Vise versa, a fisher may regard a 20 pound bass as a success while a modeler may see sitting in a boat all day wiating for something to happen as a waste of time (NOTE: I hold the viewpoint of both without the negative... just the first example that popped into my head).
Kyle

I always love it when friends or coworkers jokingly call me geek or nerd when the subject of models comes up. I then jokingly remind them that I am the only nerd I know that weighs in at 290 pounds, bench presses 400 lbs and is the point man on my departments SWAT team :-) That usually ends the nerd comments for me

told i,m mad or the best one < oh aren,t they for kids??> mustn,t speak during a war film < its a film not a factual progamme> huomred on holiday whether its a museum ,battlefield ,< its a empty field nohing here!!!!> or a model shop. thank god for armourama feels like im home

HI, Hang in there halfyank, this shall pass. One day these same children will look at you in a different light completely. I've heard it said the the front part of the brain, where all the logic and reasoning power is located, is the very last part of the mind to grown into itself. Just look at your kids as something of a 'work in progress.'

I can reemember a time, h---, years really, when my daughter and I would argue like cats and dogs, or worse. In fact, it would get so bad at times that she would say "I hate you!" and I would come back with, "I hate you more.' or vice versa. Now we are the closest and she trusts me with taking care of her two daughters each and evert day.

One good thing about the teenage years is that once the kids do move out, hopefully that is, it makes their leaving that much easier for the parents to go through. In fact it will be something you and your wife will both look forward too.

Take care, Sgirty

Rodger,stop modeling and find out why she is doing that.Faunning over Elivis is odd,but the other is alarming.

Stereotyping model builders as eccentric is a bunch of crap. I have seen many of the other member's interests range from hunting, cars, sports, and many other non-eccentic hobbies.

With the recent release of Star Wars, one of the sports radio stations were interviewing those people dressed up while waiting to get in to the midnight showing. They were ready to make fun of them on the air only to find out that a lot of them were up late the night before attending the Detroit Pistons Basketball Playoff Game 5.

Promise? I've reached the point with my teenage sons as you did with your children. It seems as though we can't be around each other for more than five minutes without an argument and it ending in them looking at me as though I'm some sort of idiot.
Sorry about venting my spleen....

On a related note, the comments that Paul made regarding what has been asked of him struck a cord with a similar thought I had while working on my Soviet Typhoon. (Sorry, now I'm about to wax philosophical)

I was holding it in my hands peering down the missile hatches and rather pleased with myself at it's appearance, when I was struck with the realization that what I held in my hands was the replica of an instrument of nuclear annihilation. I thought, wow am I some sort of nut wanting to build something like this?

After a great deal of thought (while I kept sanding of course :-) ) I came to the conclusion that I do this to some point, as a means of coming to grips with the past and a past that I played a role in. The Soviets were always an enigma to me, as were the weapons we would face if and when the time came. I guess I look at it as a way to better understand what we faced back then. I think also the same can be said for any other time period we choose to model. It's not just the hands on issue of history, it's trying to further define the past by another means.

Ok...now that you're all convinced that I'm some sort of whack- job...I'll leave you to your building.

Have a safe and happy weekend.
Steve

Oh, and as far as the removal of nazi symbols from the kits...I consider that as revisionism...and dangerous.

well hey, they call modeling eccentric? then they shouldnt forget high school. i probly learn more things in 1 hour of modeling than a whole day of school lol...

Frank